A passionate North Falmouth gardener shares her splendid Wild Harbor gardens with more than 90,000 fans world-wide.

Perhaps it is perfect that this home and garden oasis is located in a Cape Cod place called Wild Harbor. Nearly every day, Instagram images of Hydrangeas, Roses, Lilies, and just about every cottage garden flower you can envision stream like wild magic from Liz Whitcher’s serene harbor of a home. Followers from “all over the world” says Liz with surprised delight, respond with questions, praise, comments, and dreams, all seemingly inspired by the age-old charm of this Cape house and the garden wreathed in nature’s splendor.

At last count, Liz’s wildly popular Instagram page had over 90,000 followers. Not bad for a woman in her late 60s who admits she knows almost nothing about computers and their confounding technology. Her popular Instagram account, @gardenonthecape, glimmers with gorgeous shots and videos of Rose-festooned doorways, gardens bursting with blue Hydrangeas, bright yellow Lilies, feathery hot pink Astilbe, stately Foxglove, and scores more found in artfully designed garden rooms. A charming, picket-fenced front garden welcomes you in with perennial bedecked beds in every color and texture, encircled by boxwood and anchored by yew shrubs and shaped Arborvitae trees. The gardens move around the house to an enchanting backyard landscape where a rock garden and a shade garden surround a unique, semi-enclosed outdoor dining and living area, created out of an old boathouse called “The Brig,” that is much loved by Liz and her family.

For 40 years, Liz has worked to transform this one-acre lot on a quiet North Falmouth street, where her husband grew up, sailed Beetle cats, and hung out with his friends in The Brig, and a fully four-season wonderland. All year round, her Instagram followers emote their admiration and wonder over videos paired with gentle instrumental tunes, from holiday, evergreen-laden window boxes and doorways, to classic New England autumnal displays of pumpkins and fall perennials glimmering in planters, window boxes, and in chock-full perennial beds stuffed with seasonal spring and summer high performers. Every post’s comment section is filled with readers’ dreams, despairs, hopes and frustrations. Liz carefully and thoughtfully responds to many of her readers, sharing know-how and comfort, simply loving this world that arrives like magic on her doorstep every day.

“An unexpected highlight being on Instagram has been the relationships I’ve formed with gardeners across the globe,” says Liz. “There is my friend Constance, who lives on a farm in Illinois (@constancegardens); and Terie who has gorgeous woodland gardens in upstate New York (@my_woodlandwonders) and Siog, who has a lovely English garden in London (@imindagarden)—they are all part of my garden tribe.”

With straightforward advice and easily followed tried and true hints, Liz sends far and wide the beauty of her uniquely Cape Cod world, giving readers the tools to create successful landscapes without intimidating rules and demands, sharing visions of gardens packed in with flowers, trees, and shrubs of all colors and shapes. In one popular post with more than 5,000 likes called “Cottage Garden Rules,” she starts off by saying: “Rule #1: BREAK the rules! The call of a cottage garden is whimsical, relaxed and jam-packed with colorful flowers. This overcrowding of plants is a signature feature of a cottage garden…you do not need to worry about plant colors, or spacing. I plant every color imaginable: everything goes!”

To one follower from Sacramento who says that California temperatures can be tough on perennials, Liz explains that packing beds full of flowers considerably lessens the need for costly irrigation systems and helps the plants survive Mother Nature’s whims. “I have Instagram garden friends all around the world and I’ve really learned so much from them,” says Liz, who explains that her daughter taught her how to share her passion and knowledge on the social media platform. A long-time registered nurse with Cape Cod Healthcare who retired from a position in a local managed care facility during COVID, Liz says that she learned the ins and outs of gardening from taking classes, workshops, and lectures. She has also forged strong relationships with national and regional gardening suppliers, becoming an Instagram ambassador for both Coast of Maine Organics nursery products and Beacon Gardens of Osterville. “I’m so happy to promote both those companies, and in return I receive products like great organic soil and beautiful plants. What more can a girl ask for!” says Liz.

Digging in the dirt on a near daily basis is a labor of love for Liz, who admits that she is hard-pressed to choose whether she favors flowers, over foliage plants, or trees over shrubs. 

“I have a lot of trees on my property. I love them all,” says Liz. “I have several ornamentals, Red Buds, Crab Apples—and I also have a spectacular Smoke Tree that’s 60 feet tall! My property also has a lot of Mighty Oaks, which are considered the number one most beneficial tree to have on your Cape property.”

Liz admits that it’s almost impossible for her to choose a favorite perennial. “I am a perennial gardener at heart with so many favorites like Gaura, Salvias, Astilbes and Alliums. And I love repeat-blooming Daylilies, and classic cottage garden flowers like Black-Eyed Susan, Primrose, Foxgloves, Holly Hocks, and then there are the climbing roses…”

The creation of garden rooms in addition to the flower beds has been a long-time passion of this resourceful, enthusiastic Cape Codder, who admits that only old age will stop her from facing each day with new plans for enhancing—and sharing—her ever-expanding garden world. “I love it that we have a series of garden rooms,” she shares. “I have tried to put some kind of comfortable seating area in each so that we can have morning coffee in the kitchen garden, iced tea in the afternoon in the woodland shade garden…” And then there’s the second life of The Brig guest house, which has been expanded out with a lovely, completely remodeled bedroom into two connecting bright and airy living and dining rooms described by many of Liz’s family members and friends as their favorite part of this unique coastal oasis.

Liz explains that helpful relatives with construction talents were crucial in the shaping of this special space which has become the center of her family’s spring, summer, and fall lives. “My mother-in-law called it The Brig because Bob would be out there as a teenager with all his hooligan friends,” says Liz with a laugh. “There was a shuffleboard court behind the original boathouse and we expanded it to make a platform with a pergola put up by my brother-in-law and nephew. My talented nephew, Emmett Breslin, is a skilled carpenter. I am fortunate to have him. He has really helped the space evolve over time. For instance, he added several glass door inserts last summer, which helps to create the cozy cottage garden vibe.” 

In a popular post Liz explains to her followers that The Brig has truly become the heart of the garden. “It is a treasured space where our family gathers for celebrations, quiet moments, and everything in between,” Liz notes. “From wedding receptions and family memorials, to everyday coffee breaks, this space has provided us with a place to connect, reflect, and celebrate life’s moments, big and small.” 

“We keep tweaking it every year,” she says, noting that the outdoor living getaway is also the family’s favorite spot for summer dinners, and even movie nights. The three rooms have a casual, seaside flair with comfortable overstuffed sofas in neutral tones brightened by wood trim painted in a pleasing slate blue. The entire space is brightened with colorful overflowing planters and antique finds, including a country table covered with a classic, red-checked cloth surrounded by comfortable captain’s chairs perfect for summer outdoor dining. And of course, everywhere you look there are flowers. “My vision is to have it covered with Climbing Hydrangeas,” she says noting she is fortunate to have a very supportive husband who helps bring to life all her garden dreams and schemes. “He isn’t a gardener—he’s a fly fisherman,” she adds.. “But luckily he is supportive of all my wild ideas!”

Making plans for her 70th birthday soon, Liz admits that perhaps it’s time to hang up her shovel and just take the time to smell her many glorious roses. “I know at my age, I probably should consider scaling my gardens back, but that’s not going to happen,” says this resourceful, hard-working, imaginative Cape Codder. “I’ve just started a new garden over by my stone wall. I have so many gardens inside me and I need to get them out!” For her family, friends, fellow Cape Codders, and more than 90,000 garden lovers all around the world, that’s very good news.  

To follow Liz on Instagram, go to @gardenonthecape.

Susan Dewey, a former Cape Cod Life Publications editor, and current freelance writer, lives in Centerville where she enjoys gardening in numerous perennial beds, and in her favorite garden room: a year-round “hoop house” where organic vegetables flourish all year round.